Letter of the Day: Not the good guys

August 7, 2012, 5:04PM

08/07/2012

Related Links

EDITOR: The United Nations Conference on an arms trade treaty ended in failure because the Obama administration decided it needs more time to study the agreement, which had been worked out and approved by 90 countries ("Obama administration torpedoes arms trade treaty," Friday). Although the treaty had nothing in it that was controversial and did not affect gun control in the United States, the National Rifle Association came out against it, and the Obama administration seems to be avoiding antagonizing the NRA and arms manufacturers.

We have also refused to sign treaties that would ban land mines and cluster bombs. Perhaps the fact that the United States is the world's largest producer and exporter of arms has something to do with it. Money talks, and we all know what it says.

This shameful behavior reaffirms Martin Luther King's statement that the United States is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world. Our bloated military is active all around the globe, armed to the teeth with ever more sophisticated weapons constantly being "improved." Killing is one of our growth industries.